Meningococcal vaccine antigen diversity in global databases

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Vaccinology
• Genomics

Background:

• The absence of a serogroup B meningococcal vaccine necessitates exploring alternative protein-based vaccine candidates.
• These proteins often exhibit antigenic variation, complicating vaccine development.
• Publicly accessible databases like Neisseria PubMLST and MRF-MGL aid in analyzing these variations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prevalence of components in six proposed meningococcal vaccine formulations.
• To identify prevalent antigen variants and their associations with serogroups and genotypes.
• To assess the potential for long-term protection offered by different vaccine formulations.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of antigen-encoding gene variants using data from Neisseria PubMLST and MRF-MGL.
• Deduction of component prevalence in proposed meningococcal vaccine formulations.
• Statistical analysis of variant combinations and their associations with serogroups/genotypes.

Main Results:

• Despite high diversity, a limited number of antigenic variants for each vaccine antigen were prevalent.
• Strong associations were found between specific variant combinations, serogroups, and genotypes.
• Multicomponent/multivariant vaccines showed the highest levels of identical sequences globally and in the MRF-MGL.
• Certain antigen variant combinations demonstrated prevalence over decades across diverse locations.

Conclusions:

• Vaccine formulations with judiciously chosen antigen variants offer potential for long-term, geographically widespread protection against meningococcal disease.
• Multivariant formulations are particularly relevant during periods of low disease incidence.
• Continuous surveillance is essential to monitor evolving vaccine antigen prevalence.